Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Poe 1881

(Continued from Poe 1880, Pt. 2)  

"THE BELLS"   (1881)

There have always been, for me, 4 "classic" writers of the 19th Century whose work I've admired, mostly in film adaptations, but also in the original texts, and sometimes, in comic-books.  They are Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edgar Allan Poe.

When I started this project back in October 2014, I never imagined I would still be at it 3-1/2 years later.  And it continues to feel like I'm "just getting started".  More and more stories have turned up, many of which I'm translating into English for the first time ever.

And then there's some really special items.

"THE BELLS".

On August 20, 2017, I managed to get my hands on an original illustrated hardbound volume from 1881.  This instantly became the single OLDEST book in my house, in my entire collection!  The really remarkable thing was how little I managed to pay for this.  The artwork, a gorgeous example of fine engraving, is so mind-blowing to look at, I just knew I had to get my hands on this, so I could do my own scans and share this treasure with anyone who finds my blog.

I'm beginning a new phase of this project here.  For some reason, it reminds me of the time on "DARK SHADOWS" when "Barnabas Collins" used the E-Ching wands and mystically found his spirit transported back to the latter part of the 19th Century (1897).  Just think, "Quentin Collins" was ALIVE, and a young man, when this book was published.

ENJOY!

THE BELLS
cover by ??   (Porter & Coates  /  Philadelphia  /  1881)
"THE BELLS"  /  Version 1
Page 1 by R. RIORDAN
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4 by CHARLES P. KING
Page 5
Page 6 b CHARLES P. KING
Page 7 by F.O.C. DARLEY
Page 8 by S.G. McCUTCHEON
Page 9 by A. FREDERICKS
Page 10 by F.O.C. DARLEY
Page 11 by CHARLES P. KING
Page 12 by F.O.C. DARLEY
Page 13 by R. RIORDAN
Page 14 by A. FREDERICKS
Page 15 by GRANVILLE PERKINS
Page 16 by R. RIORDAN
Page 17 by F.O.C. DARLEY
Page 18 by GRANVILLE PERKINS
Page 19 by GRANVILLE PERKINS
Page 20 by GRANVILLE PERKINS
Page 21 by F.O.C. DARLEY
Page 22 by MISS C.A. NORTHAM
Page 23 by GRANVILLE PERKINS
Page 24 by A. FREDERICKS
Page 25 by CHARLES P. KING
I've found scans of covers of SEVERAL printings or editions of this book...

Here's one with black trim instead of copper trim..
This one has a yellow background and silver trim, instead of the reverse!
This one is similar, but, it appears the embossing is more exagerrated.
This one has replaced the hard flat cover with a thciker, soft one,
with new a piece of art added.
This one looks like it has a velvet cover...
A completely different design...

THE BELLS   (John C. Winston Co.  /  1888)
Copyright (C) 1881 by Porter And Coates.

Scans from MY collection.

Scans of various covers from the All Antique Books, Mink Books,
     Virginia Memory, Dragon Books, and Ebay sites.

Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa.

For more:
Read about Edgar Allan Poe at The Poe Museum site.
Read about Edgar Allan Poe at the Biography site.


Read about THE BELLS at the Poem Analysis site.
Read the poem at the Poe Stories.com site.
See THE BELLS Gallery of Illustrations.

     Audio:
Hear the Basil Rathbone recording!

     Comics:
Read the Porter & Coates THE BELLS adaptation!
Read the John Rea Neill THE BELLS adaptation!   (coming soon!)
Read the Louis Zansky THE BELLS adaptation!
     (Coming soon:)
Read the Juan Gomez THE BELLS adaptation!
Read the Bill D. Fountain THE BELLS adaptation!

See the CHRONOLOGICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!
See the ALPHABETICAL list of Edgar Allan Poe stories!

Don't miss the BONUS GALLERY of ILLUSTRATIONS up next! 

(Continued in Poe 1881, Pt.2)

1 comment:

  1. This is a remarkable book. I didn't even know it existed. Fascinating to see how the artists chose and illustrated their subjects. Imagine how different they'd have been if the book were created in the 1900s, or the 1920s, or the 1950s. Very nice!

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